A Heart as Big as the Ocean
by LollipopCloudsandHoneyTyphoons
Summary: Mermaid Princess Athena makes a deal with her father to let her stay in the human world and pick out her own husband. But she must also come back with an heir. And so, she meets Kazune Kujyou, her true love. Future Lemon
1. Chapter 1

**Athena's (Karin) POV**

"_Yume ga ippai furiru ippai, onegai yo wedding dress.. mama no you ni suteki na koi mitsukaru kashira.. __todoketai no HAATOBIITO o sasayaite "Make A Wish" hanabira mau hikari no naka me ga kurumi sou yo.." _Princess Himeka brushed my dirty blonde hair that reached the very ends of my tail while I sang my favorite song, _**Yumemiru Ai Tenshi.**_

"_mitsumeteru ,kizuiteru.."_

"Athena-chan? You've gotten better at your mother's song.. I didn't think it was possible.." Himeka smiled.

I blushed, "Ah, thank you, Himeka-chan.." I turned to my best friend, and she hugged me.

But then I remembered what today was, and my smile faded, my green eyes clouding over.

Himeka hugged me even tighter, her smile fading as well.

"It's all for your kingdom, Athena. Remember that when you walk down that aisle, alright?"

I nodded solemly. "But... I don't.."

"Athena-chan! You're turning 18 in a year, you need to take over the throne before that."

I sighed and nodded, "I know, Himeka-chan.. but I.."

Himeka silenced me and began to apply a light coral pink lipstick to my lips.

I managed a laugh.

"Would you like to see yourself now?" Himeka turned the chair around to face the mirror and I flushed with excitement.

"Is.. this really.. _me_?" I stared at the mermaid with curly, flowing hair, coral pink lips, big, bright, unusual, eyes that I was told looked like a sparkling green ocean, and long eyelashes. My wedding dress began with rare, pure white slam shells over my large breasts, and then a long, puffy and frilly white dress covered most of my sea green tail.

"You look beautiful. I'm sure Prince Hades will think so, too."

I gave a faint smile.

Himeka was much more lucky than me. She had found true love and had married before me, and would be taking the throne in the Seaberry kingdom on her 18th birthday a year from now, just like mine.

But I was too late to choose for myself. I had kept disagreeing with my father, telling him I wasn't in love yet, and that no merman had caught my eye, but my birthday would come soon, and I had to be married, so I was arranged a marriage and would be married today.

So many merman had wanted to marry me, the Princess of The Oceanbelle, but none of them ever intrigued me. And so I decided that I wanted something different.

I learned in school what humans were, how they fell in love, what they ate, how different they were from merpeople, how they were married, how they had children..what pregnancy was like for them..

And then last night I did more thinking.

What if I had made a bet with my father that I could find a husband in the human world? I'd have a chance at finding true love, and then I could become pregnant with an heir and we'd get married! It was a perfect plan, but having my father go through with it would be a little harder..

"Oh, it's time.." Himeka smiled when the horns sounded outside the castle.

She put my veil on my head, grabbed my hand, and we swam outside to sit in the carriage.

Once the giant, golden catfish got to the church, Himeka and I swam to the top tower, where the bridesmaids were.

"Woah!" the maids turned to look at me and I blushed, embarrassed.

"It's Princess Athena!"

"Waah!"

"Look at that dress!"

"You're a beautiful bride!"

"Omigosh, Prince Hades is going to be envied by every merman in the sea!"

"Kyaaaa! Princess Athena looks amazing!"

"Stop.. it's embarrassing..." my entire face grew hot and I looked away.

Himeka swam up behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"Now, now, girls, the whole kingdom knows Athena-chan is very shy!" she giggled.

The maids nodded and turned away.

"Sorry, Princess!"

"We couldn't help complementing you, though!"

"You look amazing!"

"Th- thank you.." I said as loud as I could.

One of the maids brought me some rare, thick, white seaweed to tie around my waist, so there was a large bow behind me.

"There... makes you look even better."

"Thank you."

"Girls, we should all get dressed, the weddings in less than 30 minutes!"

While everyone bustled about in the room, I sat down on a small chair and closed my eyes.

_I'm sorry, daddy, I can't marry Prince Hades... I know it's tradition and all to marry at 17, but if it's not true love, I will never be able to do it._

_So, I'm going to follow through with my plan._

Standing up on my fins, I said, "H-Himeka-chan?"

Himeka stopped putting on her makeup to look at me, "Yes, Athena-chan?"

"Uh... um... I have to.. uh.. I forgot something at home!" I stammered.

"Is it important?" Himeka crossed her arms.

_I only have 30 minutes._

"Yes, it's important."

"You'd better hurry." she turned back to the mirror to put on some lipstick.

I stared at her, knowing this was probably the last time I'd ever see her again.. if I got out of this as planned.

She looked at me through the mirror and smiled at me.

_Goodbye, Himeka-chan. Take care while I'm gone._

I turned and swam out of the window, and quickly to the top tower of my castle, where my room was.

Swimming over to my closet, I grabbed my secret bundle of human clothes that I had learned to make using magic, and placed them in a suitcase, filling it up.

I never knew how to make those coverings that humans put over their feet, though, but I guessed I'd be okay for now.

Grabbing snacks from my secret _stash_ under my bed, I stuffed that in a suitcase pocket.

I filled a bag up of my spell books, and I was ready to go.

After scribbling a note down for my father, I flipped through a spell book, looking for the spell for human legs.

_To gain human legs, you must come close enough to a human to plant a kiss on that human's lips._

It seemed a little difficult for me, what if there wasn't a human _around_ when I got out of the water?

There was a bang at my door and I realized it had been 30 minutes already.

"Princess! You're running late for the wedding! We can't have that, please come out immediately!"

I ignored the person on the other side of the door, and making sure I had my stuff with me, swam out of the door and away from the castle as far and fast as I could without looking back.

**5 minutes later..**

Sirens were ringing through the kingdom I had just left behind, alerting the merpeople of the kingdom to look for me.

I swam faster.

_I have to swim faster so I can get out of their sight!_

I felt someone else's presence behind me and wipped my head around.

There, was Poseidon, my father.

And he didn't look too happy to see that I was leaving the city.


	2. Chapter 2

I turned so that I was facing my father, and I gulped.

"Uh.. hello, father."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Athena."

"Y-yes."  
"I thought we made an agreement! You were to marry Prince Jin today!"

I looked down at my tail, and my wedding dress, "I know, father, but..."

"We went through this countless times, and when you finally agree, you try to sneak off to the human world on the day of the wedding?!"  
"But father.."

"YOU WILL GO BACK TO THE WEDDING AND APOLOGIZE!"  
Finally standing up for myself, I tried to speak as loudly as I could.

"**I WILL NOT**!"

I never disagreed with my father, and he looked surprised.

"Athena, what is the meaning of-"  
"I will not.. _marry_ someone I don't love! I will find a husband in the human world!"

He looked even more angry, "A _human!_ I won't allow my family to be carried on with such a thing!"

"There's nothing wrong with humans!" I screamed at him.

"They will try and kill you!"

"Not if I live among them and keep the secret!"

My father's eyes widened, "What are you saying?"

"I will become a human and live in their world! And find someone who loves me for me! And I will not use any kind of love spell."

"He will lie to you! He will abandon you when he finds out what you truly are, Athena! Why won't you spare yourself the pain and marry your own kind?!"

"Father, why can't I at least try?! We've never met a human! How are we going to know how they're really like?"

My father was quiet for a while,and the both of us were staring each other down.

"Very well. You will come back in a year. And I shall watch over you until then. Be careful. And if anyone tries to hurt you, I'm taking you back home."  
"Thank you father!" I swam over to him and hugged him tightly.

I was about to turn around when my father called for me again.

"Come back with his child!"

I beamed, "Alright!"

"Goodbye father!"

"Be safe, daughter."

And we swam our separate ways.

**Later...**

I had stopped to rest for a few minutes, but I had finally reached shore.

I quickly swam up to the surface and looked around.

There was a quiet beach a head of me, and behind it was a road, and a large neighborhood of houses, and looking around a little more, I realized it was Tokyo, the only place that spoke the same language as me and the other merpeople.

I couldn't see any humans, however.

How was I going to turn into a human if I couldn't kiss one?

I quietly swam to a large rock next to me and leaned against it.

It was a while before I saw humans, and I immediately pulled myself on the rock.

They were too far away to notice me, however, and I waited even longer, until I heard someone's voice, but it came from behind me.

"What are you doing out here?"

I turned to the voice, and saw the most gorgeous human I had ever seen.

He had long, pale blonde hair that reached all the way down to his shoulders, and beautiful, shiny blue eyes that added on to the rest of his beautiful features, and found that I had never thought this way about any merman before.

He was balancing on an odd, black, board like object, and wore a pair of black shorts that matched it, and a red tee shirt that covered his upper body.

But other than that, he was definitely gorgeous.

His eyes looked my body up and down with wide eyes, and I found myself a little embarrassed.

I wasn't embarrassed whenever merman looked at me, this must mean something.

My heart did something it never did before – it began to pound in my chest, and I was surprised this prince-like human couldn't hear it.

"God, you're beautiful..." he stared at me all over with wide eyes, but kept his eyes mostly on my chest.

My heart leaped, so this human thought I was _beautiful_!?

"And you really look like a mermaid, you did a good job with your cosplay, but what are you doing out here? And in a wedding dress?"

I blinked, "Cos...play?"

"Where did you buy the tail? That looks realistic! Wow, you grow your hair so long!"

"But it _is _real.." I said, confused, "And... what's cosplay?"

Now the human looked confused, "Uh... are you lost or something?"

"I'm not lost, I swam here."

"Are you role playing?" he frowned.

I cocked my head to the side, "What is role playing?"

"Wha...?"

_Ah! I have to do the spell now!  
_I pulled myself off of the rock and tried to meet the human boy's height, but I fell on my backside into the water with a loud splash.

"Are you alright?" he laughed and bent down to try and help me up.

I looked into his blue eyes before bringing my hands up to cup his cheeks, and as he stared into my eyes, I watched his cheeks flush a pretty scarlet.

"He..hey, what are you doi-"

I leaned in, and closing my eyes, our lips met.

My body felt strange, as I kissed him, like it was drying from being in the water so long, and I felt my tail split in two before disappearing, then I felt my wedding dress disappear along with the seashells.

Now I felt cold, completely nude, and when I opened my eyes and pulled away, I looked down at my body.

I had legs!

I had become a human!

I reached down to touch them, and noticed the new spot in between my legs.

_Ah, that's the spot human females have._

Aside from that, my large bust was showing, but I didn't cover up, I didn't know if that was something to be embarrassed about.

I looked down at my feet a wiggled my toes, letting a giggle slip out of my mouth.

"What the...! Why are you...?!"

I looked up at the human to see that his entire face had grown red, and he was backing away from me, still looking my naked form up and down.

"What is it?"

His blue eyes were wide.

"Kazune! Dude, where are you?!" I heard a male voice call, and the human stopped blushing and muttered something as he took off his shirt, revealing his beautiful upper body muscles, and threw the shirt over my head, pulled my arms through, and stretched it far down my body so that it covered everything down to my waist.

"I.. I'm leaving early! Take my board home will you?" he called over his shoulder as he swung me up in his arms and carried me to the beach, running.

"Come on, Kazune! We're not done surfing yet!"

"Bye, Yuki!"

The human quickly grabbed a bag on the beach and set me down on the sand as he quickly put on his shoes and gathered his things, then lifted me in his arms again as he carried me across the street, and it was awhile before we arrived at a small shelter, which I learned was called a house, and opened the door, setting me down on the carpet.

He bent down so that he was level with my face and stared seriously into my eyes.

"What in the world was _that_?"

I blinked again, "I was transforming into a human."  
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before asking, "And what are you exactly? If this is a joke, could you stop now, you're freaking me out."

I shook my head, "This isn't a joke. I'm actually a mermaid."

His eyes widened, "A.. me- mermaid?!"

I nodded, smiling, "I came here to find a husband and have a baby."  
"S- so, This isn't a prank.. and mermaids are real?" he gave me a funny look, and I nodded.

He covered his face with his hand and whispered to himself, while I pulled my shirt over my chest to look at my new form again.

He took his hands off of his face, flushing again, and pulled the shirt back down.

"This can't be real, I must be dreaming..!"

"But you're not asleep."

"I wish I was! This is crazy! You're a _mermaid_!"

"Yeah!" I smiled, and felt so free, happy that I could finally live among humans.

And I think I was already coming close to finding a husband...

* * *

**I hope you liked the chapter! :)**

**I wanted Athena and Kazune's meeting to be a bit more romantic, but I still looooove this chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Really sorry for the late update, bad internet connection! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

"Let me get this straight," the human boy named Kazune set a tray of tea down on the table in front of me, "I'm still trying to actually _get_ this."

I stared at the little tea cups and the tea pot on the tray for a second before lifting one up and taking a sip.

"If you're a mermaid... um, what are you doing on land, any way?"  
I smiled, "I told you, I had a fight with my father before my wedding, and we agreed I could go on land and find a human husband."

Kazune scratched his head for a second, frowning.

"You were getting _married_?"

I sighed and nodded, "To prince Jin... but our marriage was arranged since I'm a princess almost old enough to become a queen.."

"A mermaid princess, huh? Um, okay.."

I giggled, his confusion was somehow adorable.

"I have a year on land to find a husband, or at least someone I want to marry, but I also have to come back to my kingdom with a baby- the heir."

"A _baby_? You have to have his _kid_?!"

"Hmm.." I put my finger to my chin, "I remember that's not exactly the way it is for humans, but in the mermaid world it is..."

Kazune held his face in his hands, sighing.

"In all my 18 years of life, I have NEVER imagined that mermaids were real. Let alone that I'd be talking to one."

I waited a moment before asking, "So... do you think you could help me?"

He looked up at me, "Help you? What do you mean?"

"Help me find a husband? I don't know any humans on land, no one that can help me, I'm sort of on my own once I turn into a human, and I just met you and you seem like a nice person, so, I thought-"

Kazune cut me off by holding up his hands to silence me.

"Wait, what?! I know you're sort of new to being a human, but you just can't expect me to help you out, you know, I'm really confused right now, I'm not sure I could help you anyway-"

"But I thought you could help me!" I stood up, "I don't mean to be rude, it's just at least until I can find every thing on my own!"

He sighed again and looked away, "But, I...You know what? Fine, guess I'll think about it."

I sat down, content.

I heard him mutter, "What have I gotten myself into?"

_**Later...**_

Kazune was watching tv while I was walking around.

I went outside on what I learned was a "balcony" with a view of the beach and spread my arms like they were wings just as the wind blew by.

The breeze felt good against my body, and I sighed happily.

I never knew that wind was so wonderful.

I mean, I sat on rocks to sing to myself sometimes when I was younger, but after I had all that princess training, I didn't really have enough time to myself to go up to the surface.

"_yume ga ippai FURIRU ippai onegai yo WEDINGU DORESU.. MAMA no you ni suteki nakoi mitsukaru kashira..todoketai no HAATOBIITO o..sasayaite "Make A Wish" ..hanabira mau hikari no naka me ga kurami sou yo...__mitsumeteru kizuiteru sonna SHICHUEISHON..shinjiteru yumemiteru.. O · N · · · NO NA KO...daiji na koto wasurenai de ne...itsuka kitto DREAMS COME TRUE tada hisokani negatteru no kamisama, onegai.."_

I closed my eyes, feeling the wind on my skin, and it felt great._  
I really hope Kazune lets me stay here, I really love this view. I think living with him would be fun.._  
"Are you hungry?"

The sudden voice surprised me and I turned around to see the human boy again. I nodded.

"What kind of food do humans eat on land?" I asked.

Kazune sighed, "Whatever is in their refrigerator, I guess. What kind of food do mermaids eat?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but a sudden gust of wind blew and my shirt flew up all the way to the underside of my breasts. I shivered at the feeling of the cool air against my bare skin. Kazune's eyes widened and I watched the red bloom on his cheeks as he gasped and quickly pulled my shirt down as far as it could go.

"Let's go inside, please." he muttered.

_**A few minutes later..**_

I stared down at my plate of rice and salmon.

"Something wrong?" Kazune asked.

I frowned, "How could I eat this? I probably SWAM with this fish just a few months ago and now I'm eating him... I had a friend that looked just like him."

Kazune sighed, "Eat your rice, then, I'll find you something else to eat."

He took the salmon away, but I quickly grabbed it and took it back.

"I.. I think I should at least try it. You were kind enough to feed me, right?"

Kazune rested his chin in his hand and watched me. I looked down at my plate again, at the "half" fish and awkwardly began cutting a small piece off, feeling like a cannibal. I slowly lifted the fork to my mouth and took a slow bite and began to chew, shutting my eyes tightly.

A brand new taste began to fill my mouth. It was so.. unique. So.. nostalgic. It was like an explosion of different tastes. As the piece of fish began to move around my tongue, I admired the flavor more than anything else. I opened my eyes slowly and suddenly began stuffing my mouth with the fish, then the rice, until I was finally done.

I wiped my mouth with a napkin and I looked across the table to see that Kazune was wide eyed and his jaw had dropped.

I laughed, "Um... do you think I could have some more?"

It was silent for a moment before Kazune stood up to give me more of the fish he had cooked.

I'm not exactly sure HOW many I ate, but one by one, the 8 halves of fish had disappeared.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed in content, "Thank you for the meal..."  
His face was in his hands as he mumbled, "That was _so_ expensive."

I sat up after a few minutes of pure happiness and asked, "Have you decided if I could stay?"  
Kazune looked up at me with icy blue eyes, "I'm... still thinking. And it's getting pretty late, maybe you should lie down or something."  
I stood up and walked over to the couch to stare at the tv like he did earlier.

Another hour passed and the sky became dark and starry. This was always the time I usually resurfaced to see the stars.

"Go ahead and sleep for now." Kazune brought me a blanket and I lay down. Closing my eyes, I still couldn't believe I was human now. I'd definitely find a husband here. I'd have to do my best.

Moments later, I was shifting, trying to get in the right position, but I was too uncomfortable.

I opened my eyes to a dark room and felt my stomach drop.

Now I knew why I couldn't get to sleep. Kazune would have to help me.

I pondered over waking him up or just trying to go back to sleep and finally stood up to walk around the small house.

I kept my hands on the wall so that I knew where I was and finally reached Kazune's door.

I carefully opened it and waited to hear if I'd woken him up.

There was no sign of movement, so I walked in the room and crawled on the bed toward him.

I crawled on top of him and heard him groan before waking up and rubbing his eyes.

"What are you doing in my room?!"

"I.. need to ask you something."

"What? Are you-"

I put my finger to his lips, silencing him, and my sea green eyes met his.

"There's something for me only you can do right now..." I said in a hushed voice.

I giggled and swung my legs back and forth, staring at myself in the mirror.

A tired Kazune brushed my hair, counting to 120 in a groggy voice.

"Why... 102... do you... 103... have to... 104... brush your...105.. hair every.. 106 night..?"

"It's a habit, but I have my friend Princess Himeka do it for me every night, because I can't do it myself, you see."

Kazune sighed, "111.."  
When he finally counted to 120, I ran my fingers through my dirty blonde hair and saw it flowed all the way to the wooden floor.

"You should really cut this- once you get used to walking, you might step on it."  
I stared at him in the mirror like he'd just grown 2 heads out of no where.

"How could I cut my hair?! I've been growing it out since I was 4!"

Kazune sighed again, "Can I go to bed now?"

"No."

He glared at me for a second, and I grinned before turning around in the chair.

I threw my arms around his neck and quickly kissed him on his cheek.

"What..?"

"_Now_ you can go to bed! Thank you!"

Kazune flushed again, putting his hand on his cheek before leaving the room to go back to his.

I grinned before sitting down on the couch.

"Hmmm... Oh, yeah!"

I put my hands out in front of me and used my magic to lift the couch into the air and rotated it so that it was facing the patio and set it back down.

I lay on the couch, pulling the covers up to my chin and stared peacefully up at the stars.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, I opened my eyes to a bright, beautiful morning and sat up to stretch. I heard someone gasp behind me and rubbed my eyes to turn around. Kazune was standing in the doorway of the living room, staring at me with wide eyes.

Oh, that's right.. the couch was floating! I giggled and closed my eyes, focusing on gently setting it down. I felt the couch move and opened my eyes again, now on the same level with Kazune.

"Good morning!" I yawned. Kazune blinked at me for a second, as if he forgot I spent the night.

Shaking his head from his trance, he walked over to the kitchen and began cooking something.

I watched him, interested in what he was making, and stood up to get a closer look.

His body was covering what he was working on and I struggled to see. I finally stepped up, accidentally pressing my body to his back as I stood on my tippy toes.

Kazune stiffened when he felt my breasts push against him and he jumped away from me.

"Wh- what are you doing?!" his face was red as he pointed at me.

My lips curled in a slow smile, " I wanted to see what you were-" Knowing that I could finally see, I turned my head and saw a small machine plugged into an outlet with a glass measuring cup underneath an opening. Inside the measuring cup was a brown liquid, and beside the machine was a bottle shaped container that read "_Hazelnut Coffee Creamer_."  
Cocking my head, I stared at it for a moment, "Kazune, what is this?" I asked without taking my eyes off of it.

"I-it's a coffee maker, Athena-san."  
Frowning at the formal sound of my name, I shook the thought away and asked, "What's coffee?"  
"Um... how do I put this... it's a type of energy drink."  
"Energy drink? What's that?"

He sighed, "It helps you stay awake and alert throughout the day."  
"Ahhh...Why are _you_ drinking it?"

Running a hand through his hair, Kazune replied, "Because, I'm going to school today. It's Monday."  
Oh, yeah. I forgot, human's have these places called "school's" which I heard wasn't really fun, but I'd always wanted to go... it sounded exciting to learn new things and be around people you could make friends with and..

"Can I go?"  
Kazune paused, "Um.. I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"Why not?" my heart sank and I frowned.

"Because... it's... well, it will be complicated once you... you know, have to leave.. or... what if we have swimming classes? How are you going to stay... human? What if.." he shuddered, "You... actually get pregnant? You can't continue on then.."  
He was right, how was going to school going to work out for me? I put my elbow on the counter and rested my chin in my hands, depressed.

"B-but," he continued, and I looked at him, "You could say you're moving because of work and you're only going to be at the school for a short time, so whenever you actually do leave, it won't be too sudden."  
I stood up straighter, beaming, "Yeah! I really _could _ say that! Then..." I grabbed his hand - "Do you really think I could go?"

Kazune stared into my face as I leaned into his, expectant for an answer.

Then, he looked at his watch and his eyes widened.

"Damn! I'm going to be late! Maybe some other time, Athena-san!" he ran off, leaving me in the kitchen, staring at the coffee and wondering if he'd let me have some.

Darn, I really wanted to go to school.

I let out a long sigh and walked out of the kitchen, too, sitting on the couch and grabbing the remote.

I studied it for a second, frowning and not knowing what the buttons meant, and turned it this way and that. Finally getting frustrated, I threw it on back on the living room table and jumped when the tv flashed and a cartoon appeared in the frame. I picked up the remote again and stared at it, pressing a button that was an arrow pointing up.

The picture changed to what I'd read was called a drama. Apparently, some girl had stolen her best friend's boyfriend. Captivated, I bit my lip and sat back to watch.

"Oh, my goodness, she slapped her!" I gasped put my hands on my cheeks and leaned in. "Th-that's so cruel, how could she just .. hit her like that! **Gasp! **She kissed him! In front of her!" my eyes widened , and suddenly entertained, glued my eyes to the tv screen. Wow, dramas were exciting!  
"Athena-san."  
I pulled my eyes from the TV to see Kazune sitting on the steps that led to the front door. He was lacing his tenni shoes and was clothed in a boy's school uniform. They jacket was gray with a black tie and a white shirt underneath. His pants were gray as well and were neatly ironed, all wrinkles smoothed out.

My heart sank again when I remembered he was leaving and I stood up to walk over to him.

"I'll be back later on, okay-"  
Without thinking, I bit back a sob and got on my knees to hug him from behind. He stopped tying his shoes and asked, "W- w- what are you doing?!"

I stared solemnly at the door he was about to leave out of and my throat felt tight. A tear threatened to run down my cheek and I shut my eyes tightly to keep it away, as I replied, "I always hug my friends goodbye before they leave. How will I know if I'll ever see them again? Parting from them makes me sad..."

Kazune was still for a moment before he twisted in my arms and grabbed my hands, taking them in his.

Staring deeply into my eyes with his crystal blue ones, he gave me a serious, determined look.

"I promise I'll come back, Athena-san. So please don't cry, alright?" he stood up and my hands slipped from his.

"W-work hard." I felt much better. What was it human girls said to whoever was leaving out of the house again..? Oh, yeah!"And.. have a safe trip."  
Kazune picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, smiling down at me before opening the front door.

"I will. Thank you, Athena-san."  
After he left, I went back to the couch to watch that captivating drama.


	5. Chapter 5

I sighed. Time had passed, and I was getting a little bored..

I'd already watched about 6 episodes of the drama.. It became less interesting. I couldn't understand why the main character would not decide on 1 guy to be with. She constantly got plastic surgery and went around with other guys...

And now she was having a baby!

Well, it wasn't too surprising, with the way she had been running around and getting drunk.

I was confused, however.. what was an _"abortion?"_

The word was used several times in the episode she had found out she was pregnant. Just the sound of the word on someone's lips made it sound horrible.

What did it mean? All I knew was that the main character was planning on getting one.

I stood up and walked to the kitchen, wondering what to eat.

My stomach growled, and I giggled.

Throwing open the refrigerator, I spotted some fish from earlier and quickly tossed it into the microwave. Moments later, I found myself staring at the buttons and wondering what I should do.

Cautiously, I touched the number "5" with my finger. It made a soft beeping sound before turning on the entire microwave. Amused, I clapped and watched excitedly as my fish began to spin around in circles under the lights inside the microwave.

"Ahh! So cool... it's like those things humans call 'stages,' only better!"

I didn't know how long I stood there, pressing all of those buttons, but they made the prettiest sound that I just kept pressing them.

A moment later, a horrible smell reached my nose and smoke began to seep out from the microwave.

I frowned, peeking through the glass at my fish and gasped.

I immediately tugged the little door open and my eyes widened.

My fish had turned black! It was probably because I had left it on the lights too long!

"Oh, no! How will I eat you now, little fish!? Oh, I'm so sorry.."

My stomach growled, and I looked down, apologizing to it, too.

I touched the plate the fish had been on and gasped before letting go of it immediately and accidentally sending the plate crashing to the floor. I looked at my red fingers and blinked.

I had burned myself!

I looked down at the ground. I felt tears well up in my eyes.

I had broken the plate, and now it was spread in teeny tiny peaces all around the floor!

What was I going to tell Kazune?! He would kick me out for sure!

Without thinking, I dropped to the floor and began frantically picking up the plate, silently begging for the shards to somehow disappear in my head. I hadn't learned how to repair broken things using magic yet.

"Ouuuuchhh!"

I felt the sharp glass pinch my index finger and pulled my hand toward my face to examine it. A small piece of glass was inside of my skin. Carefully, I pulled it out.

I watched the blood form from the cut and started crying.

I had to find another way to clean up the glass, and quickly, before Kazune got home!

I stood up and began searching frantically for something to clean the glass up with, since I was only hurting myself.

I opened a cabinet and found a large sack of something labeled:

"ALL PURPOSE FLOUR."

"Ah!" I grabbed it and opened the sack. It was full of a white, sandy, yet soft substance. I pinched it in between my fingers and giggled. Maybe this would help!

I dumped the entire thing out on the ground, on top of the glass.

"There! Now, since there's a lot of glass, this may take time, so I'll go find something else to do."

"_You always were an airhead, Athena."_ I heard my father's voice echo in my head.

I blinked several times, confused.

"Father?" I glanced around, but when I didn't hear anything, I took off to go use the bathroom.

I watched in amazement as the water in the toilet swirled around. Humans were so weird, and so amazing at the same time. I turned around, examining the bathroom, and saw the bathtub. I had read it's what human use to bathe themselves in. I touched the nozzle the water came out of and twisted it.

I gasped as piles and piles of water began to fill up the tub and began to clap excitedly.

_I wonder if I'll turn back into a mermaid if I touch the water.._

"Only one way to find out-"

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

An alarming, frequent, loud noise sounded throughout the whole house and echoed into the bathroom.

Worried, I stood up and raced out the door and into the kitchen. I coughed. Smoke was blinding me and filling the entire house.

I looked up at the ceiling, where the horrible, frightening, beeping noise was coming from a small, round object.

I covered my ears with my hands and continued to cough. I ran into the kitchen to see if the glass had disappeared yet and felt my stomach drop to see that it was only some stupid mess.

"_Flour : a popular cooking ingredient used in multiple foods.."_

"Oh, no! I'm such an idiot! Now I remember where I've seen the word _Flour _before..!"  
I bent down and began trying to pick up the glass with my hands again.

I failed and continued cutting myself. Tears continued pouring down my cheeks.

I was going to be kicked out for sure!  
I heard the door open.

"Karin-san! I'm home!"

My eyes widened and I curled up in a ball, covering my face with my long hair.

I heard Kazune scream at the sight of his house and I heard him running around the house, fixing everything. The beeping stopped and I felt the air become more clear.

I heard footsteps in the kitchen and began to tremble.

"Karin-san! Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?!" he bent down next to me and pulled my hands away from my face.

"I'm so sorry, Kazune! I didn't mean to destroy your house! If you kick me out, I understand completely! I'm so stupid.."  
"No, you're not!"

I blinked and finally made eye contact with him. He looked worried.

"People make mistakes.. And it was something that could be fixed. You haven't done anything wrong."  
He grabbed my hand and examined my cuts.

Then he did the most surprising thing I'd seen all day. He stuck my bleeding finger inside of his mouth!

At first, it hurt, but then his warm mouth felt good.

"K-Kazune..." I whispered.

He pulled my hand from his mouth, and that's when I started crying.

"I can't do anything right, can I?! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it!"

"Karin.. I've decided to let you stay here. I was really thinking about it and-"

"I'm sorry, I – wait, what?" I beamed and my heart pounded against my chest.

Kazune blushed, "I thought about it.. you're like a kid in a way... there's no one you can go to right now, anyway. And you can stay for as long as you like."  
"Really!?"

Without thinking, I threw myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Oh, thank you so much, Kazune! You're the best!"

I heard the door open again, but ignored it for a second, I was so happy.

"Kazune-sama!" I heard quick feet against the wood ground. Someone was running through the house!

And the voice sounded like a girl's.

Kazune and I pulled away from each other, just as a pretty girl with long black pony tails and bright ruby eyes slid into the kitchen, glaring at me.

"Hey, you! Get your hands off of my boyfriend!"  
I blinked.

"R-Rika-chan!"

I turned to look at Kazune, and then at the girl.

"Kazune- she's your _girlfriend_?!"


	6. Chapter 6

_Boyfriend._

_**BOYFRIEND!**_

Still a little confused, I pulled away from Kazune slowly, glancing over at the angry, pretty girl again. Her bright ruby eyes were practically on fire as she glared daggers at me.

I sucked in a breath, a little afraid.

"Humph." she folded her arms over her large chest and narrowed her eyes at Kazune, who seemed confused and searching for the right words.

"Rika-chan, what are you... I... huh...?"  
"I can't believe it!" Rika sighed, "Even someone as sweet as you is into dating behind others backs? I'm so surprised. You know, my friends kept saying you were probably hiding something. I thought they were jealous, so I was like ' Kazune wouldn't do something like that! He's so gentle and kiiiiind,' but noooooo-" she rolled her eyes before glaring at him – "-they were right!"

"Huh? But..."

"Shut up," Rika looked like she was about to explode, "Just _SHUT THE HELL UP_!"

Kazune held his hands up in front of his face, "I don't know what's going on! Why are you angry?"

Rika laughed like he'd told her the funniest joke, "You really are dumb, aren't you?"

"But, I- we're not-"

"We are dating! Why would you date me in the first place if you didn't actually love me? Was our entire relationship fake? Huh? Trying to prove something to your friends? Maybe that you can date anyone you want? Because I can make you look worse than you already are! No one messes with Rika Karasuma and gets a simple break up! I'll put you through hell for the rest of your high school days and you'll wish you never attempted to break my heart made of STEAL, you ass!"

Kazune stood up, standing in front of me protectively.

"You're my childhood friend! I've told you dozens of times when we first started high school that I had no intention of changing our friendly relationship! How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to date you! Don't just make stuff up like this on your own and go tell everyone about it!"

Rika scowled, "I can tell by the way you look at me that you want me! Don't try and deny it, I know! Now who the hell is she?"  
"I was trying to tell you on the way home since you barge into the house anyway, but you were too busy going on and on about some guy you rejected from the football team."  
"Whatever. Just tell me!"

"She's... she's..." Kazune looked down at me, a helpless expression on his face. I thought very carefully about this before coming up with an excuse to cover our secret.

"I'm his cousin. From America." I said cheerfully. Rika's eyelids lowered to add on to her bored expression. I looked up at Kazune, giving him a thumbs up and proud of myself for coming up with a good save.

Kazune looked at me in confusion and frustration.

"What a total lie," Rika sniffed, "I would know you because_ I'm_ his cousin."

My smile disappeared and Kazune sighed in defeat.

"She's... she's just a friend."

"Just a friend? What kind of friend, you pervert?" Rika walked across the kitchen floor, pushed Kazune out of the way, and bent down so we were face to face and just inches apart.

Rika and I stared at each other a moment before looking over her profile made me realize how much she reminded me of some one.

Our eyes widened at the same time.

"You..."

"You..."  
We both turned to Kazune, wide eyed and trying to process words as we pointed frantically at each other.

"She... She... SHEEEE...!"

Kazune frowned at us, "Well...? She what?"

"She's mermaid Princess Athena!"

"She's the lost mermaid Princess Luna!"

_**~ Later...**_

"Please," Kazune looked frustrated as he set down the tray of tea, "Could you try and explain this whole thing in the simplest way? I'm _still_ trying to process the fact that there are mermaids in an ocean I've surfed in for half of my life."

Rika took a cup of tea Kazune had poured and took a sip, "Fine, I guess I'll be telling my story first..."  
Kazune handed me a cup of tea and I drank the entire thing in a few seconds – it tasted so good – I knew there was water, but I hadn't had any all day!

Rika and Kazune stared at me for a few seconds before Kazune cleared his throat.

"Go on."

"Whatever." Rika glared at him, probably still upset from what happened earlier. "About a year ago, my parents sat down with me and my brother Jin to tell us about arranged marriages. I was the oldest, so I was going to take the kingdom and be the Queen. I hated the idea of getting married to someone I would see for the first time only on our wedding day. They told me he was about twice my age – the thought was just disgusting. All my life, I wanted to be like a regular girl. I knew I wasn't going to be a good Queen – my heart wasn't in it. I was tired of my home and my selfish parents picking out every thing – from the places I would go to what I would wear during the day. You could say I was trapped for almost 17 years. It was like hell in that castle."  
I could understand what Rika was saying – princesses or princes were kept inside of their castle all their lives unless there was a kingdom event, like their birthday or a party.

"And then one day, about a week before I was to wed Prince _Uranus-" _she grimaced. I did, too. I met him at a Royal party once, he's like, 54 "-my parents announced to the kingdom, without even telling me or my brother, that they had arranged for Princess Athena to marry Jin."

I sighed. My father had done the same thing. We hadn't even talked about it. He just told me I needed to hurry and marry someone.

Another reason why I left.

"I couldn't take it anymore." Rika continued, "I yelled at my parents for making decisions on their own and they tried to lock me away. So I packed my things and left. I would find something better in the human world. They're so free, you know?"

"But you left so suddenly," I told her, "The mermaids were searching everywhere. How did you leave without them knowing? My father found me because I tried to escape on my wedding day."  
Rika smiled softly, "I left on the night of a full moon."  
I blinked, "A full moon?"

"Right. A mermaid's powers are multiplied. I was able to sing a melody that would hide me."

"Wow. My father never told me about the full moon..." I was fascinated.

"Because he knows. We teenagers are pretty smart. If we have the knowledge of the full moon's power, we could do anything with it."

I pulled my knees to my chest on the couch, thinking hard about the full moon. I wondered what I could do if my powers were intensified.

"But, Athena..."

I turned to look at Rika. She was staring at me seriously, a grave look on her pretty face.

"Since you're closer to the moon, being on land and transformed into a human, the effects could be different."

"Different? What do you mean?"  
"Uh... you'll find out soon. I can't really tell you...they _vary._"

"Vary?" I was too curious to not know immediately, "What do you mean? Tell me. Please."

Rika and I had a stare down for a long moment before she blushed and burst into laughter, grabbing her red cheeks and shaking her head.

"I just can't tell you! You're too young to know!" she snickered for another minute before clearing her throat and straightening up.

"Ahem. Let's talk about something else, shall we?"  
We both looked over at Kazune. He was frowning and had his face in his hands, muttering something.

Poor guy. He was probably so confused right now.

"What's up with you?"Rika raised an eyebrow, "Is this really so hard to follow? This is, like, a fairy tale."  
Kazune glared up at her, "I'm just trying to get this all in my head. MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND AND MY SO CALLED COUSIN I'VE ONLY KNOWN FOR 1 YEAR IS SUDDENLY TELLING ME SHE'S A MERMAID, TOO?! WHAT THE HELL, RIKA!"

Rika tossed her cup at his face, "It's not like it's easy to tell you. You're a human, you idiot. Our secret is a SECRET."

Kazune threw a pillow at her, "Stop calling me an idiot! I make better grades than you!"

"That's it!" Rika jumped out of her seat and pinched his cheeks, pulling them.

"Ah!" Kazune grabbed her cheeks, too, and pulled.

"Rika-san, how did you become Kazune's cousin?" I asked.

Rika glanced over at me, "I met his aumph amb she tolsh me I could shtay with her. Sshe knowsh all about mermaids."

I cocked my head to the side, thinking about what she said until I could finally get it.

"Oh. I see." I laughed.

Rika glared back at Kazune, pulling his cheeks extra hard, "But, knowing that my dumb cousin is going to be taking care of a girl, I'll need to stay in this house."

I cheered and Kazune pulled away from her, " What?! You can't just decide stuff like that on your own!"

"Yeah, I can! What if something goes wrong? What if she has her period?! You won't know what to do! And what if she goes through a break up!? You won't be any help at all! You'll just feed her and not take proper care of her! So I'm moving in!"

"I'm not taking care of two mermaids!"

"You won't have to take care of us! Just feed us and go to work!"

"What the hell kind of deal is that?!"

"It's Rika's kind of deal~!"

I giggled, "Yay! Rika-san's going to be staying with us!"

Life in the human world just keeps getting even more fun, it's so full of surprises. Maybe soon I'll get to go to Kazune's school!


End file.
